Peter Som / Pre-Fall 2012

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Classic, signature, practical are among the adjectives designers are striving toward with pre-fall, a season that is so often defined by what it isn’t (let’s not forget seasonless, the most important of them all). After spring’s kaleidoscopic florals, Peter Som is keen to inject a little fun into that formula with a continued emphasis on exuberant print. The designer looked to cult seventies classic The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, a movie in which the veneer of French middle-class values is striped bare, and ladylike propriety descends into Surrealist chaos. The best tongue-in-chic interpretation of this was found in a print strewn with pristine white diamonds, rubies, and emeralds blown up big, that came on a full-length sleeveless evening dress and a more mannish pajama suit. “It’s my Wallis Simpson moment,” he said. “Can’t you just imagine her tearing off those jewels and casually throwing them on the floor?”

Som’s leopard print mixed with hothouse flowers was also worn head-to-toe, even if that particular combination appeared a tad familiar. His abstracted houndstooth rendered in black and white on a silk wrap skirt had a fresher energy. As a designer who trades in pretty, it was nice to see Som borrowing a little from the boys: Oversize double-breasted coats in lipstick-bright colors and menswear-inspired nip-waisted jackets fell on the right side of feminine. Above and beyond these surprise additions, Som didn’t forget the pieces on which fans of his label have come to rely. “We sell dresses like crazy, we sell sweaters like crazy,” said Som, lifting a trompe l’oeil dress off the rack—part black sweater, part pleated silk skirt, and covered in his winning gemstone print—just in case his woman wants to have her cake and eat it too.